“You can’t sleep on the floor. You keep hitting stuff. It will keep us both up. I promise I won’t touch you.” She pleaded with her eyes.
“If you’ll come to bed.”
“Okay.”
I helped her get into bed, and she scooted towards the other side.
“There’s plenty of room.”
Reluctantly I got onto the mattress, staying on the edge as well.
She looked at me for a long time before frowning and reaching out. “You’re bleeding.”
I flinched, and she stopped. “I’m fine. I caught the beam. I heal fast. Don’t worry about it.”
TWENTY-SIX
FAOLAN
We decided the best way to get out of the River Kingdom was to hire transport up the River of Sorrow to Havelock. It felt like the worst idea, but no one else seemed bothered.
“River of Sorrow… That sounds a bit ominous, doesn’t it?” I mused, sitting back on the rather luxurious river boat. It wasn’t large, but there were scantily clad males with fans, so it felt wrong to complain.
“I’m not mad about it,” Alaric said, taking a fruity drink offered to him while giving me a “shut the fuck up” look.
“I’m not saying this isn’t a much upgraded means of transportation, what I’m saying is we are traveling up the River of Sorrow.” At least I had a fruity drink to nurse for my hangover and a couple of hours on the cruise to relax. We were posing as tourists taking a river cruise, so I was just playing up my part. There were wonderful fall markets in Havelock that always drew quite the crowds after the harvests, so we blended right in.
“The Twelve Kingdoms are full of names of old. It’s totally safe now.” Alaric was too nonplused for my taste.
Kol sat on the foot of Alaric’s seat, grabbing the drink out of his hand to take a sip. “Are you letting the males cloud your judgment?”
“Hardly, though I did push for this boat because of them. Look how uncomfortable your brother is.” Alaric gestured at Nyx on the other rail.
“I am enjoying his discomfort, but it’s not because of the males so much as Zaria seeing them.” Kol held back a laugh.
I had to admit that if Calytrix was not on the other side of the deck, pointing out birds on the bank to Nova, I might look worse than Nyx did right then. I felt murderous on the way to the dock when a group of males watched them pass.
“So where did you actually sleep last night?” Kol asked, his tone meddling, and that was not good.
“I told you. Caly found a room, and I guarded her. Someone had to after Nyx just let her leave their room.”
“Caly, is it?” Kol smirked, and Alaric diplomatically sipped his drink rather than weigh in.
I rolled my eyes.
“Fine, back to my question, which you artfully dodged. Where did you sleep last night?”
“I didn’t really sleep if you must know. Because there was only one bed.”
Kol turned to wink at Alaric. “Classic.”
Alaric looked confused. “So you didn’t sleep because you had nowhere to lie down?”
Kol elbowed him. “No, he didn’t sleep because it’s impossible to sleep when you have a hard on, and you’re lying beside the one you most want. Am I right?”
Alaric’s confusion disappeared, and he looked both intrigued and concerned for my safety. “Ah, I see. Well, did you…you know?”
“By the Goddess! Of course not,” I snapped, sitting up straighter and glancing towards the sisters. “I have some restraint.”
